The Magic Tree: A Tale From the Congo

by Gerald McDermott

Full-color motifs illustrate this Congolese tale in which an ugly, unloved twin leaves home and discovers a Magic Tree, which gives him beauty, strength, and love--if he keeps its secret. By the author of Zomo the Rabbit. Reissue.

Genres: Picture Books, Cultural, Fiction, Africa, Childrens

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Gerald McDermott is an award-winning children’s book illustrator and an expert on mythology. His work often combines bright colors and styles with ancient imagery.

He has created more than 25 books and animated films. His first book, Anansi the Spider, was awarded a Caldecott Honor, and he’s since won the Caldecott Medal for Arrow to the Sun and another Caldecott Honor.

Reviews

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: This book depicts the story of a man. He was born different from his twin and was often looked under by his mother. He runs away and comes across a tree that grants him wishes. He gets everything he desires, but he must not tell anyone where all his possessions came from. He follows this rule, until he forgets and tells his mother his secret. This makes him lose all that he had gained.
Evaluation: This book has amazing illustrations and is easy to read. It does a great job of bringing culture from the Congo to us.
Teaching Idea: I think a student who is barely starting to read could use this book to gain confidence in his or her reading. It is short and has many picture breaks.

[Coco Arreola · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly appreciate The Magic Tree by Gerald McDermott. 🌳✨ This beautifully illustrated retelling of a Congolese folk tale introduces children to a rich cultural story about a boy who feels neglected by his family. The story’s magic and mystery engage young imaginations, my students were so invested in the story. Gerald is becoming one of my favorite children's authors.

Highly recommended for preschool storytime!

[Megan Gavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. The illustrations seemed very much from the Aztec era. They were very colorful and bright, however the story was somewhat hard to follow. I didn't entirely understand the ending , but I think elementary students would enjoy it because they could make up the ending and decide what happened to Mavungu.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations in this were so interesting, and the story seemed so magical! An unloved twin discovers a magic tree, and realizes there is a whole village of people trapped in it. He releases them and marries the princess, but is told to never tell the story of where their village came from. Very mysterious and interesting to look at.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting story from the Congo culture. It the story there are two twin brothers and one of the brothers feels unloved so he runs away. Along the way he finds a magic tree, and every time he picks a leaf from a tree, it turns into a person.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A folktale from the Congo. I loved the unique illustrations but didn't love the story.

[Alissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Magic Tree: A Tale from the Congo was illustrated very well...almost like cave drawings. Its a tale about a boy named Mavungu. He ran away from home because his mother liked his twin brother better. He came upon a magic tree that spoke to him as he pulled off leaves. Leaf by leaf people started to come out of the tree thanking Mavungu for releasing them from the tree. A Princess came out and they fell in love. Mavungu became a very wealthy Prince but his bride told him never to tell the secret of the magic tree. After a while, he missed him family so he went to visit them. His bride warned him not to tell his secret but he ignored her and told them. The ending was weird. You don't really know what happens after he tells his mother the secret. Kinda weird.

One idea to do with students is to have them finish the story. They can get into groups and decide what will happen to Mavungu since he spilled the beans about the magic tree. Then every group can share their ending with the class.

Another idea would be to use this book when discussing other countries. Have students research the Congo and report whats happening currently around that area.

[Megan Boomgarden]

This is a tale from the Congo region of africa. It teaches the lesson about keeping a secret. When a poor, neglected boy frees the people of the tree, he is rewarded by marrying the princess. She gives him great wealth, but in order to keep it and her, he is instructed to not tell anyone of the tree. He forgets and tells his previous family that neglcted him and didnt love him and ends up alone, without the princess and her wealth and without his family.

This is overall a good fairy tale that teaches conventional morals but what appealed to me most about this book was the illustrations. The drawings look like traditional african art with bright colors and geometric shapes. It was also very interesting some of the story was told through the illustrations and without words. When the boy was wondering through the jungle, there was no words, just pictures. the end of the story is also left without words and clarification. It just has four pages of pictures and the reader need to interpret what happened. I think this would be a good story to teach using context clues and the pictures to figure out what is going on in the story.

[Ashley Dement · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book retells and African tale about the importance of keeping your promises and not betraying the ones that you love. The book is small in size and a rectangular shape. The endpages have bright yellow and orange patterns that are similar to the illustrations found in the story. Even the title page and dedication page are very bright. The illustrations reflect the African culture in a positive way. They have no negative space and they are full of colors that are visually appealing. The free form shapes and characters are unique to the African culture as well. Overall, I really enjoyed the artistic qualities of this book.

[Daressalaam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up reading, and re-reading this tale. The story tells of how Mavungu, a homely and unloved child, grows to transcend his lonely place in life--only to make a tremendous error, leaving him where he began. With beautifully geometric illustration and simple, yet pervasive, language, this story is both rich and timeless. It still strikes a chord somewhere deep inside today.

[Antonio · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an excellent way to lead into a discussion on how important operation security (keeping future operations and troop movements a secret) is to the safety and security of America and its allies in past and current conflicts. This book can also be used to start discussions on America’s history of Japanese interment and detainment of suspected terrorist at Guantanamo Bay detainment.

[Shamekia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the illustrations! I really liked this story, because it's rare for me to find folktales that are appropriate for storytime. They're usually too long and wordy for very young children. This one was almost perfect. It does not have a "happy ending" or an ending that is tied off in a neat bow, but I may read it to my storytime group.

[Alicia Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

After running away from his family because his mother does not show him love, Mavungu finds a tree and pulls the leaves off of it, and the leaves turn out to be people. A beautiful princess is one of the leaves, and tells Mavungu she wishes to marry him. Mavungu promises the Princess he will not tell the secret of what he has done, but forgets his promise when he finds his mother again.

[Joy Sterrantino · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read this in third grade and watched a film strip of it. I found it a couple of years ago at Half-Price Books for a dollar and was thrilled. It is beautifully illustrated and is a wonderful story about consequence and worth.

[Laura Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was wonderful.It started as two kids and they were twins and there name was Luemba and Mavungu but theren mother liked Luemba more. So one night Mavungu ran away and found a magic tree and he touch the magic tree and it turned in people.

[Moriah Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gerald's illustrations in this book are a must-see! The book is full of colors and would be great to have in an Elementary classroom.

[Service Room 12 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is about Mavungu doing lots of stuff. I liked when he was by an alligator. By Thomas.